Boris Johnson today urges men to take the threat of prostate cancer seriously
by getting a test if they are concerned that they are at risk.

In an interview to mark the launch of The Times’ Christmas
charity appeal, the Mayor of London admitted that, like many men, he does
not know as much about the illness as he should.

In particular he needed to find out more about the PSA blood test that is
available which can help catch prostate cancer early.

Men are needlessly dying because they do not know about the simple test that
could help catch the disease early, campaigners have warned.

Too many GPs are also refusing men that test, even though they have a right to
be checked on the NHS, the charity Prostate Cancer UK says.

Mr Johnson turns 50 next year, meaning he enters the age group most at risk of
contracting prostate cancer.

The London Mayor was a friend and former colleague of Richard Beeston, the Times
foreign editor, who died of prostate cancer in May this year aged just 50.

Although prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and the fourth
most common overall, there is far less public awareness about it than
others, with confusion over who is at risk and what the treatments are. It
also lags well behind when it comes to research, lying 20th in the “league
table” of annual cancer research.

To help address this low public profile and raise money for its research
programme and medical advice service, The Times has chosen Prostate
Cancer UK as one of its good causes for this year’s appeal.

Mr Johnson appealed to men to find out more about the illness and about the
PSA test. “I would urge men to be sensible about this. Take prostate cancer
seriously. It is a big killer. We are losing too many people and in many
cases it is for the want of a simple precaution they could take,” he said.

Research carried out for The Times found that seven out of ten men have
never heard of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. The charity said
that doctors must raise the topic with patients who are “dying of
ignorance”.

The figures suggest that prostate cancer remains shrouded in a “culture of
neglect”.

Every year 41,000 men are told they have prostate cancer and 10,000 die of the
disease, equivalent to one an hour. While death rates for breast cancer and
many other cancers have fallen sharply, the numbers dying of prostate cancer
have remained stubbornly high.

Prostate Cancer UK is attempting to change that.

Despite its modest size, the charity is seeking to triple its investment in
research over the next three years to try to find a new-generation test for
the condition. It also wants to find ways of identifying those at risk of
the aggressive form of the illness.

Donations will also go to help fund its highly regarded helpline, which offers
free advice to men diagnosed with the condition and loved ones who want to
know more.

Today’s research suggests that there is some way to go before the risks are
well known, even among those most at risk. Among men aged over 50, only six
in ten have heard of the PSA test.

Owen Sharp, chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK said: “Low awareness of the
PSA test means that lives may be lost every single day because men don’t
know what is already available to them. It is impossible for a man over 50
to exercise his right to have a PSA test if he knows neither that it exists
nor that he has a right to request one. This has to change.”

Men over 50 have a right to be tested on the NHS after discussing the pros and
cons with their GP, Mr Sharp said. He is urging family doctors to talk about
testing with men in their 50s.

“We know that GPs are turning men away and talking them out of it. It’s not
the majority but it’s about one in eight. Some of them don’t believe in the
PSA test. We have calls from men about this all the time and I spoke to a
man last week who had a stand-up row with his GP to get the test. We need to
be very clear that having had the conversation, it is men’s choice and they
shouldn’t be turning men away.”

However, other experts say the issuing of testing is not straightforward.

Helen Stokes-Lampard of the Royal College of GPs warned that men had to “know
what they’re letting themselves in for” with a test where two thirds of
those with a high reading do not to have cancer.

“The problem with PSA is that it’s a very inaccurate test, so using it
indiscriminately could cause a lot of harm,” she said. “GPs have a healthy
cynicism about this test, based on evidence that it’s not terribly helpful
in isolation.”

Mr Johnson urged men to take the cancer seriously. He spoke movingly about his
friendship with Richard Beeston, the late Times foreign editor.

Mr Johnson started his career as a journalist on the paper. “I remember him
from my first day at The Times in 1987. Although he was only a year
older than me, he seemed fully formed as a journalist, totally in command,”
he said.

“I remember him arriving back from a war zone and being hailed in the
newsroom. He was my idea of what a journalist should be. He seemed to know
the head of every militia in the world.”

The friendship continued over the years although their careers took different
paths, with Mr Johnson moving out of journalism and into politics. He
remembered with sadness Beeston’s final years.

Unusually, he was found to have prostate cancer at the age of only 44. Despite
often gruelling treatment, including chemotherapy, he continued to take on
reporting assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He really fought incredibly hard. It was unbelievable tough on both Richard
and [his wife] Natasha. He was really heroic,” Mr Johnson said.

Like David Cameron, Mr Johnson has decided against growing a moustache for
Movember, the annual event each November to raise awareness and money for a
range of men’s health charities.

It is not because he is unable to grow one, which the Prime Minister used as
his excuse in the House of Commons this week, but on the ground of good
taste. Mr Johnson said. “It would be an unbelievably horrific look. However,
I might consider growing a moustache and beard for next year.”

Deloitte the professional services firm, will match readers’ donations to
Prostate Cancer UK up to £60,000

River Island, the high street fashion retailer, will match Times readers’
donations to Sightsavers up to £25,000

Help us end male cancer ‘deaths from ignorance’

2013-11-29 00:01:00.0

Richard Beeston, our much admired and much missed Foreign Editor, died in May this year at the age of only 50. Prostate cancer, which struck more than six years ago, tragically cut short his life.

One small but growing charity helped Richard and his family in the months and years following his diagnosis. Prostate Cancer UK provided them with up-to-date, detailed information about the disease and what he could expect from the treatments.

However, the charity has two other important functions. It is hard to believe that prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers around, killing 10,000 men a year in the UK, such is its low profile. One in eight men will at some point get it, yet few appear to know much at all about the illness. The charity is determined to educate men into finding out and knowing as much about prostate cancer as women know about breast cancer: the risks, the tests, and the treatments.

Prostate Cancer UK has also become a big funder of research to find better treatments and tests for the illness. Prostate cancer receives a fraction of the investment that other cancers get. But thanks to the charity, numerous projects are under way that will save thousands of lives.

Our second good cause could also be described as an overlooked problem. Amid all the health and development difficulties facing Africa, blindness barely features. Losing one’s sight, through the excruciatingly painful disease trachoma, is an endemic problem in much of the continent and has not received the attention that other contagious diseases have in recent years. Yet the impact of trachoma is devastating, robbing sufferers of their sight and families of their livelihoods.

One British charity, Sightsavers, has made it its mission to eliminate blinding trachoma. For just £8, an ophthalmic nurse trained by Sightsavers can operate and restore the vision of a sufferer in less than 20 minutes. Such has been the success of work by organisations such as Sightsavers that experts believe trachoma could be eliminated by 2020 — a rare medical coup in the developing world.

Our third cause is one for which Times readers have shown tremendous support in the past. Loneliness in old age is a blight on our society and a constant worry for many families who live far from elderly parents or relatives. The Abbeyfield Society was set up to combat this loneliness, offering accommodation and care tailored to enhance every day of an older person’s life. Thousands of volunteers working alongside trained staff mean that the charity’s sheltered housing, care and specialist dementia homes provide ideal places in which to enjoy old age.

Over the next month, Times journalists will report on the work of these innovative charities. We will hear directly from those whose lives have been transformed by their work, and from the admirable volunteers and staff who run them.

Please show your support by donating today. You can follow our appeal each day in the paper and give money to your chosen charity here.John Witherow,Editor of The Times